New Chestertown Pastry Biz is Enjoying a Favorable Taste-Drive By Lisa J. Gotto

Casual walkers over the summer months have most likely noticed that there are some additional sandwich boards on the town’s main streets officially alerting the public that there is a new business taking shape in the space behind 329 Cannon Street.

The green boards with the yellow and white logos and text beckon passersby to the Skipjack Art Studio space in one of the alleys off Cannon Street; the same location that the new business’s proprietor visited earlier in the year, fresh-baked pecan bars in hand, to meet the building’s owners, Tom and Betty Dietz.

Charles Brian Bennett of Earleville explains that in early 2025 he had heard from a couple of his neighbors who happened to attend the Farmers’ Market in Chestertown and then stopped into the maker’s space on the alley, that there was a commercial kitchen situation available at that site.

“The Dietz’s said, ‘Let us know if you know anyone who might be interested, and they immediately turned to each other and screamed, Charles!’”

Bennett, who has quite the resume in the food service industry with 45 years under his belt, primarily in the greater Philadelphia area, says he was a recent retiree when he heard about the kitchen space—a retiree who happened to be totally re-thinking why he recently retired to begin with.

Of that resume, Bennett says it was the early 1990’s and he was a young man working at Philly’s renowned Five-Star-rated Rittenhouse Hotel when he realized that pastry cheffing would become his passion.

“I started out in the garde manger area, and when a position opened up in the pastry shop. I asked if I could try out for it, and … within two weeks I was like, ‘This is my thing!’  You really got to have that thing that pastry people have, because pastry is an exact science. That’s why most chefs don’t want to do the pastries.”

From there he had many positions in the food service industry including production manager, pastry chef, and executive chef.

Bennett was also known locally in Philadelphia for the seafood-themed food truck business he created called Mr. Bubble’s Seafood, and then for the precursor business he had to this one called Brian’s Best Culinary, a corporate team-building cooking class endeavor. While that last effort he said struggled to gain traction during the recession of 2009, he normally has excellent clarity and vision when it comes to his food-based enterprises.

And upon first seeing the kitchen and its adjacent retail area on Cannon Street, Bennett says, something clicked instantaneously, and he knew exactly how he could make the space work for him.

“And boom, Brian’s Best Pastries was born!”

Currently, the business is set up to be a grab-n-go type of experience with several variations of cakes, croissants, dessert bars, and even crème brûlée on display by the slice or single serving for the taking, and everything that is in the case on any given day is also available for a taste-drive so you can try any treat before you purchase it. Hot coffee or water for tea is also available for take-out.

So, just what might we see on display for the tasting? The Wednesday when this reporter was in the house there were blueberry scones, chocolate and cranberry scones, butter croissants, a triple-layer dark chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting topped with a ganache, vanilla bean cheesecake topped with fruit, a Pina Colada cake, a banana walnut bread, and Bennett’s signature pecan bars, among others, making the mouth water.

And foot traffic on this day was a testament to the fact that the word is definitely out as clientele – including repeaters – were coming in to try some new things or remark on how much they enjoyed their already-purchased sweet selections.

Bennett said his pastry repertoire is vast and includes many other offerings such as a carrot pineapple loaf with raisins topped with a cream cheese frosting, almond croissants, and a plethora of autumnally-themed delights that he anticipates layering into the menu within the next few weeks.

While the business is presently simple and streamlined, Bennett intends and is already doing more than offering cake by the slice. He has just initiated a bakeshop back-of-house aspect of the business in the form of whole special occasion cakes and cupcakes available upon request, as well. And word-of-mouth for this aspect of the business, he says, is already quite encouraging.

“I get people who come in all the time asking me if I had a cake that they can get right away. Well, last week, I started taking cake orders and this past Saturday I had six orders right off the bat.”

And Bennett’s plans don’t stop there. During that first meeting with the building owners, he says, he learned that the Dietz’s were already planning to expand and convert the once residential space at 329 Cannon to include pushing out and using the front porch square footage as retail space.

“And then this,” Bennett says as he motions to the room around him, “…becomes Brian’s Best Cafe and Pastries. I’ll be doing a bistro style lunch menu and breakfast menu.”

As far as a timeframe for the bistro aspect of the business and when he hopes to have that open, Bennett says they are shooting for January or February of 2026, as the renovation work has already begun.

And the menu? Bennett says he plans to continue to offer grab-and-go items and extend the types of items that will be available for people who are on the go, while adding in the aspect of the sit-down experience of coming in and enjoying something like a turkey club or a Cobb salad.

Right now, you can pop into Brian’s Best Pastries Wednesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

When asked what those upcoming bistro hours would be, Bennett smiled wide and said, “I’m definitely going to be here seven days!”

Lisa Gotto is a recent resident to Chestertown, who is immensely enjoying learning more about the area, its people, and what makes living here so special. She hopes to continue doing that through her work with the Spy and her role as owner of Tea Leaves Media, LLC,  a communications and content generation company. Since acquiring her B.A. In Communications & Journalism from Shippensburg University of PA, Lisa has been writing and editing for decades for numerous media outlets including The Morning Call and Lehigh Valley Style in Easton, Pennsylvania, and What’s Up? Media in Annapolis.